Cookie Monster Smash Cake- First Birthday Cake

First birthdays are often the first time kids get to try a piece of cake, so why not give them the whole cake. . . and then let them smash it to smithereens! I made this cake for the wonderful people at Awestruck, to announce my involvement in their new show- Ultimate Birthday Cake Battle! I am the host, and the judge!

In the Ultimate Birthday Cake Battle, two moms compete head to head for a cash prize. They get only 90 minutes to decorate and assemble their cake design. They are given the theme ahead of time so they have a chance to plan their cake, but are forced to complete it under the time restriction and the cameras! You’re going to be so impressed with these moms. They are tough!

I thought creating a smash cake for the UBCB kick off would be the perfect idea since a child’s first birthday is so important! Sesame Street is of course an easy pick to go with, and I’ve always wanted to make a Cookie Monster cake. The planets aligned and I was able to make this cake for Awestruck and YOU!  For all of my future cake tutorials for Awestruck, make sure you head over to their channel, Awestruck, and subscribe so you know when one of my videos goes up there.

Making this cake is super fast and easy because all of the decorating uses one tip- 233! It’s commonly known as a grass tip or a hair tip, or in this case, fur! I love using this tip as you do not need to be neat! It’s hard to pipe lines straight all the time and using this one allows you to be as messy as you want!

Cookie Monster Smash Cake

Ingredients:

• Prepared Vanilla Cake Batter

• Prepared Vanilla Buttercream (colored blue and black)

• Gum Paste

• White Fondant

• Black Fondant

• Prepared chocolate chip cookies

Procedure:

1. Prepare cake batter and buttercreams.

2. Preheat oven to 350F and prepare round ball pans (or round bowls) by spraying with nonstick spray.

3. Divide cake batter equally between the two pans and bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

4. Level cakes using a serrated knife, and remove a section of the top cake for the mouth. Attach both cakes together using blue buttercream. Fill mouth area with black buttercream.

5. Place remaining blue buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a 233 tip (grass tip) and squeeze out Cookie Monster’s fur, covering the entire cake.

6. Combine gum paste and white fondant. Roll into two golf ball sized eyeballs. Roll black fondant out thinly, and cut out pupils using a 1 cm (½”) cutter and place onto the white round eyeballs.

7. Place eyeballs on the top of Cookie Monster’s head, close together, with pupils slightly askew from each other.

8. Place half a cookie into Cookie Monster’s mouth. Cover cake board with cookies as desired.

9. Smash cakes yield the best “smash” while the buttercream is soft. The cake should be kept in a sealed container in the fridge and is best consumed within 2-3 days.